


Bring Him Home

by JustCaity



Category: The Martian - Andy Wier
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:30:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5152076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustCaity/pseuds/JustCaity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris Beck's POV and what he's thinking about Mark being stranded on Mars. The crew does everything they can to get him home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bring Him Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that I thought would be interesting! Let me know and, hopefully, I'll continue with this!

Mark Watney is gone. The crew is on Hermes, but Mark isn't. I made the call. The worst call to have to make, and I was the one to have to make it because I'm the flight surgeon. It's in my job description to declare a crewmate dead. Mark Watney is dead because of my call. Watney was more than a crewmate. So much more. He was my boyfriend. I love him. He told me, before we had to go to training for the Area mission, that he was going to propose to me when we got back home. I guess that will never happen. 

It's been two weeks since Mark was left, dead on Mars. I've been depressed ever since then, and I should know, I'm the doctor. I've been trying to hide my depression from the rest of the crew, though they are extremely upset about Mark's death, none of them knew him the way I did. No one knew about mine and Mark's relationship, not even our families. It was too risky. NASA has ears everywhere, and we couldn't risk them finding out. We both wanted this Mars trip so badly that we lied to everyone about our relationship status. And it was worth it, or at least we thought it would be at the time. 

Commander Lewis is worried about me, seeing as I am a lot worse off than the rest of the crew about Watney's death. Everyone knows that she blames herself too, mainly because she's the commander in charge and she couldn't find him before we had to leave. Lewis has been checking in more than usual ever since they left Mars. I suspect that it's to make sure that I've been taking care of myself and doing my daily routines and experiments.

Vogel and Martinez are both equally as worried. They seem to be in their own world and dealing with the loss of their crewmate in their own way. They've been noticing how I always comes to eat last and I'm  
always the first to finish, and small things like that. They're noticing how I tend to stay to myself now that Mark isn't here to keep me, or anyone else, company.

Beth is worried about me, but what's new about that? She's always been worried about me and my feelings. I'm almost certain that she knows about me and Mark, but she won't say anything. I can see it in her eyes, beneath her own grieving is empathy for me and the loss of my lover.

Speaking of Beth Johanssen, here she comes through the sick bay doors and into my bunk. "Chris. Have you eaten today?"

I stare up at her. I was so lost in my thoughts that the concept of food hadn't even entered my mind. It's past lunch, and I haven't had anything to eat yet. I slowly shake my head at her, knowing that she'll rant to me about taking care of myself when I'm the damn doctor.

Beth sighs loudly before entering the room the rest of the way to walk in front of me. "Chris. You need to take better care of yourself! You're the doctor and we need you to be able to take care of us, so you should be able to take care of yourself!" She paused, thinking about what to say next. "Not only that, but I'm worried about you, Chris. Commander Lewis is worried about you, same with Martinez and Vogel."

She stopped talking, obviously wanting me to say something. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I grab the glass of water beside me and take a big gulp before trying to speak again. "I'll try to."

Beth looked at me, really looked at me, and nodded her head. "You better. Next time I catch you missing meals, I'll send the commander down here. No one wants that." She bent down and kissed my forehead, before leaving.

I always thought of Beth as a sister, and I know Mark feels the same. The thought of Mark made a single tear slide down my face. I was successful in not letting anyone see me cry over the past two weeks, but it was hard.

\---Several Weeks Later---

We reached the halfway point today. Everyone is gathering behind Commander Lewis and her master computer. Director Venkat Kapoor has a message for everyone. That should be interesting. We won't be able to respond because of the delay, but he's going to give us his message and then end the call. 

All of a sudden, Director Kapoor's face popped up onto the screen. "Hello Ares Three crew! There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to come right out and say it: Mark Watney is alive." His face lingered on the screen for a couple more seconds before the connection was cut.

Silence. Everyone registered those four words, and they were obviously happy that he's alive. I can't breathe. I think I stopped breathing after Kapoor said that last word. I can't breathe. Mark is alive, and he's on Mars. I made the call that left him stranded, alone, on Mars. 

I start swaying on my feet. I hardly notice it when Beth comes over to me and leads me to a nerby couch, getting the attention of the rest of the crew. They all come over, Lewis in the lead, and try to get me to snap out of it. All i can think about is Mark and how he's still stranded on Mars, waiting for the day he will surely die alone on an isolated planet.

I'm finally knocked out of my stupor by water being dumped on my head. I look around and see the crew standing over me while I sit on the couch. Martinez is holding the empty cup that held the water.

Beth leans forward and whispers into my ear, "You need to tell them about you and Mark. Your crappy excuses aren't going to cut it this time." When she leaned back, she smiled reassuringly at me. I tried to smile back, but it wouldn't reach my eyes. I nodded once at her before looking at Lewis.

"Beck, what the hell was that about? You were having a panic attack!" She exclaimed as if I didn't know what had just happened. I am a doctor, you know.

"Commander. I have to tell you something," I began saying. I hesitated, thinking over my words.

Before I could say something, Lewis muttered, "No shit, Sherlock."

I took a deep breath, before continuing. "I'm just going to say this, and I hope Mark doesn't kill me for it, but we're in a relationship. Me and Mark."

Silence, again. Beth looks proud, but also scared for me and Mark. Martinez and Vogel look equally as shocked, but as though they've been expecting that we're together. Lewis looks shocked, confused, and hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lewis asked after a long silence.

"I don't know. I thought you'd tell NASA and they'd kick us off of the mission for sure. We both wanted this, Commander," I said, trying to not sound too offensive.

"Chris," she said, kneeling down so she was eye-level with me. "I would have kept it a secret. As long as it doesn't jeopardize the mission, I don't care who you date. I would've liked it if you had told me before, instead of waiting to do so." 

I nodded and then looked at Martinez, then Vogel. They both nodded and agreed that they would have kept it to themselves as well. I sigh and bow my head, thinking hard. "It doesn't matter anyways. Mark is stuck on Mars with no one to help him." 

Lewis gently took ahold of my hands and forced me to look her in the eyes. "We will get him back, Chris. We'll give NASA hell until we get our boy back."

I could tell she wasn't lying. Her eyes say it all. She's going to try her hardest to get Mark back home. I nodded, believing her, and she smiled. Commander Lewis stood up and put her hands on her hips authoritatively, looking around at her crew. 

"Well," she started saying with a smile playing at her lips, "Get back to work! I have your personal emails to send out now, along with a few to send out myself." She smiled as we all went to our stations, and she headed towards her computer to send us our emails, and to send out one just for NASA about a certain Mark Watney.

I got up from the couch and made my way to the sick bay, otherwise known as my room. I walking with a smile on my face, the first genuine smile since Mars. I am finally going to get Mark back.


End file.
